The SAIMC Johannesburg Branch had the privilege of hosting Arieke Coetzee-Gericke from SynapSerene, who delivered an engaging and insightful talk on a topic that resonated deeply with many of us.
The topic of her talk was ‘Neurodivergent Brilliance in Technical Teams: Coaching for Inclusion and Innovation’, and she explored how neurodivergent talent can strengthen engineering teams, and how organisations can better support and unlock this existing potential. Engineering thrives on precision, innovation and complex problem solving. She explained that within these high performance environments lies a powerful but often under-leveraged advantage, cognitive diversity.
Roughly 15% of adults are neurodivergent, including ADHD, autism spectrum profiles, dyslexia and dyspraxia. In an engineering organisation of 200 people, this is about 30 neurodivergent individuals, and many are likely to be undiagnosed. Technical fields such as automation, control systems and software development naturally attract neurodivergent thinkers. Neurodivergence is not a niche issue, it is already embedded in the engineering ecosystem. The real question is whether organisations are enabling this brilliance or unintentionally suppressing it.
Engineering rewards cognitive strengths commonly seen in neurodivergent professionals such as pattern recognition, systems thinking, deep focus, curiosity and unconventional problem solving, a high tolerance for complexity, and the ability to solve problems creatively under pressure. Professionals with ADHD often thrive in an environment of fast-paced troubleshooting. Autistic individuals frequently excel in precision and pattern detection. Dyslexic thinkers bring big picture reasoning and spatial insight. These are not ‘soft’ strengths, they are performance multipliers.
During the talk, participants were asked questions such as: Have you worked with someone brilliant but difficult to manage? Have you seen someone enter deep hyperfocus but struggle after interruptions? Have you known someone who spots problems early but hesitates to speak up? Hands went up across the room. These traits are already present in our teams, we simply haven’t always named them.
Neurodivergent professionals often struggle not because of ability, but because the environment clashes with their operating style. Common friction points include ambiguous instructions, constant task switching, sensory overload, communication mismatches and poor workflow structure. These are system environment mismatches, not personal flaws. A high performance mind needs the right operating conditions.
Supporting neurodivergent professionals involves applying engineering logic to leadership.
Some examples are friendly sensory spaces, flexible scheduling, uninterrupted deep work windows, clear communication norms and visual task boards.
With the right coaching, neurodivergent professionals can strengthen executive functioning, manage feeling overwhelmed and regulate focus, just like developing any technical skill. This reduces misalignment, rework and frustration, which are three major hidden costs in engineering teams.
Neurodivergence is not a challenge to manage, it is brilliance to harness. Engineering is one of the fields where neurodivergent minds shine brightest because of their cognitive differences. As the SAIMC discussion showed, the future of engineering leadership is not only technical it‘s human-centred, inclusive and deeply attuned to the diverse minds that drive innovation.
We would like to extend our sincere thanks to Arieke for a brilliant, informative and thought-provoking session that added tremendous value for our attending members.
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